Change needed for international events

It is not hard to see the impact of perfection. The sailors want well-run races, and in the presence of slipping quality, standards increase. More education and training is required for race administrators, and impartial jurists are mandated.

The result is better races, but as the bar is raised, those willing to follow it decrease. The volunteers that run races find the heightened commitment is not worth the trouble. More so, the number of event hosts is reduced due to the increased expense.

This is nothing new, yet it seems that screaming into a gale is what Scuttlebutt does, and we are pleased to provide Ari Barshi, a great contributor to the sport, a platform to offer his commonsense solution:

Our club is located in Cabarete, Dominican Republic, which is a perfect location for sailing due to the challenging and exciting conditions provided by dependably strong winds and feisty waves.

However, World Sailing requires three International Jurists for the prominent grade 1 regattas, and this condition makes it economically difficult for small clubs to host these international events, and is certainly a cost consideration for large clubs too.

Is it time to create a formula that equates the number of IJ’s per competitors, and not per event? For example, 20 competitors will require one IJ, 40 competitors have two IJ’s, and 50 and more competitors have three IJ’s. This way there is a link between registration fees charged and the cost of running an event.

A group of 13-15 years old sailors in ILCAs were recently training in Cabarete. To see how much fun they were having, scroll up to the top photo.